The Lodge Essay Samples

In the world of literature, humor is a common literary device that is used to capture the audience's attention and make the literary work tasteful. The aim of developing humor in the literature is to emphasize the fact that humor makes the reader emotionally healthy and fosters their interest in the story. Every audience needs humor because it builds friendship, relieve stress, heal the soul and it is also the part of entertainment. According to the superiority theory, laughter is the source of “feelings of superiority over other people or over a former state of ourselves” (Morreall, p.1). This implies that there is a close relationship between laughter and how we feel about ourselves. However, from analysis of different sources, not all situations that humor create self-esteem and comfort; it also creates a negative impact on the characters associated with it.
In “An Uncomfortable Bed” the writer reveals the two sides of humor as the core part of the story. The main character, the narrator, arrives at the Hunting Lodge expecting to have great fun with his friends who are “fond of practical joking” (p.1). However, the writer sheds light on the other side of humor when the narrator expectation of fun or amusement is overturned by fear. The princely reception from his friend made him believe that his friends are plotting something against him. He claims “everyone laughed in an exaggerated fashion.” Consequently, he can smell “a practical joke in the air, as a dog smells game.” This is a clear illustration of the fear induced by the humor, usually created by his friends at his expenses. In this case friends who are making humor are feeling more superior over the narrator. Consequently, this is similar to the contemporary proponent of the superiority theory. Roger Scruton analyzed this scenario and viewed “amusement as an ‘attentive demolition’ of a person or something connected with a person” (Morreall, p.1). Similarly, the narrator of the story got his attention being demolished by the amusement of his friend. The narrator remains confident that his friends are planning for something negative. He says to himself, “Look out, old ferret! They have something in preparation for you.” (p.2). All this suspicions is brought about by the feeling everybody is laughing at him. From this scenario, the Scruton’s argument can be justified. Scuton claims that people do not like being laughed at “because laughter devalues its object in the subject’s eyes” (Morealla, p.1). In other words, the laughter and humor of his friend had made the narrator’s self-esteem, and confidence diminish. For this reason, laughter can not only be viewed as positive but also negative to some extent.
One of the fundamental aspects of humor is the social aspect. Something that appears to be comical or amusing usually contributes to the social affiliations. Jensen claims that laughter and humor are significant elements that reflect social allegiances similar to the certain linguistic expression. He continues to suggest that laughing expresses allegiance to the other people; either the audience or the people who convey the stimulus. This is displayed in the story “An Uncomfortable Bed” where the social affiliation is built by the humor. The narrator shows her connection and allegiance with his friend in the hunting camp. He claims, “I do not care to know any other sort of people” (p.1). Both groups, people making jokes and the audience of the jokes seem to have developed humor as an instrument of friendship and self-identification. For instance, the narrator claims that he had “some capital shooting” with his friends who embraced and cajoled him “as if they expected to have great fun at [his] expense” (p.1)
However, according to Jensen (p.2) failure to understand the humor can reflect non-sympathy and social distance. In this case, such person is seen as a non-member or the lack allegiance with the group. For instance, from the moment the narrator became suspicious of his friends, and he became disconnected with them. Rather than having fun with them, he is worried his friends are going to commit something bad to him. The narrator is not having the amusement that is emanating from his friends’ humor. While his friends are in the corridor making fun, he is lonely at his room thinking that his friends might be making fun of him. Consequently, the fear generated by this circumstance made him suffer alone while his friends are enjoying. For instance, he slept on the floor thinking that his bed has been sabotaged. As a result, the valet, unaware of the room disorganization, step on the mattress on the floor and trip over pouring the morning tea to the narrator.
In conclusion, although the humor is commonly associated with the positive outcome of the audience, it is clear that it is also connected to negative effects. Among the elements in the positive side of the humor include builds friendship and social affiliation, relieve stress and heal the soul. However, humor can be a source of fear, lower self-esteem, loose superiority, and create non-sympathy and social distance.

Works Cited

Jensen, Kim E. "Humor." Modern World (2009): n. pag. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.hum.aau.dk/~kim/Modern%20World%2009/mod4.pdf>.
Morreall, John. "Philosophy of Humor." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/humor/#HumPlaLauPlaSig>.